Yesterday Bill and I were on a mission.

My sister-in-law Sami makes and sells GORGEOUS wreaths. Having helped her (though I’m not sure if cutting pieces of burlap crookedly is actually any help at all) I can vouch for the fact that they are hand made from scratch. And a bargain to boot. See her stuff on Etsy. Her shop is called Sundrop Boutique.

Anyhoo, back to our mission. Sami is selling her wreaths as fast as she makes them these days. In fact, she has made so many wreaths in the recent past that she is running out of the Styrofoam forms. I don’t simply mean running out of them at her home; I mean running out of them in the East Valley.

She mentioned to Bill and me that she only had a few remaining forms, and 33 orders to fill. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. As I have mentioned before, I ask God every morning to help me be a blessing to someone that day. So I decided to spend Tuesday searching the East Valley for Styrofoam wreath forms. See, I’m retired and all…..

Before I continue, I have to tell you how my husband responded to Sami’s problem. He has already gone to Home Depot, purchased a slab of Styrofoam along with a pipe that measured 8 inches and another pipe that measured 4-1/2 inches, which he intends to use as a “donut cutter” if you will. As I write this blog, I can hear him in the garage using my electric knife to cut out foam wreath bases. Never mind that I’m pretty sure Sami isn’t going to want to spend the time making her own forms even if she can save 15 cents on each form. But Bill loves to be McGyver. God love him.

My way of responding to Sami’s problem was by heading to Dollar Tree.

I had a hunch that’s where I was going to be most successful. And, after all, everything’s a dollar. Can’t beat the price. The same forms are $3.99 at Walmart. So I sat down that morning and planned out a route to the five or six nearest Dollar Trees.

I absolutely suck as a bargain shopper. It comes from really not liking to shop at all. Since shopping is not a pleasurable experience for me, I just want to get it over with by either shopping online or going someplace I know has whatever I want and buying it there, with little thought about price. I know. Not good.

But I really sort of like Dollar Tree. It is mesmerizing to see so much colorful junk in one place. It sort of reminds me of shopping in Egypt, except no bartering. How can you barter when everything is a dollar? I must admit, however, that something about the ubiquitous signage stating EVERYTHING’S $1 that brings out the naughty little child in my 60-year-old self. I am always tempted to start taking items one at a time up to the counter and asking the poor 18-year-old clerk, “How much is this?” until his or her head explodes.

Well, the good news is that we hit paydirt at the very first Dollar Tree to which we went. I’m talking scores of Styrofoam forms, and more in the back. A veritable treasure trove of Styrofoam wreath forms.

Plus, I found some Rubbermaid storage containers that I have been needing. How much?

One dollah!